


Times Changes Everything

by ElizabethDarcySnape



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dark, Dubious Consent, Durmstrang Student Harry Potter, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Jealous!Voldemort, Light politics, M/M, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Possessive Behavior, Slow Burn, Smart Harry, Time Travel, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-24 11:45:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17703719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizabethDarcySnape/pseuds/ElizabethDarcySnape
Summary: On the night of October 31st 1981, Lord Voldemort killed Lily and James Potter before turning his wand onto Harry, unaware that a very familiar someone was watching from the cupboard the whole time. Upon Voldemort’s downfall the man, in a split second decision before the Order of the Pheonix came, took Harry to the only place he could think to - the Malfoys.Raised not knowing his real identity, Corvus Malfoy must deal with the politics of school at Durmstrang, his families expectations and proving himself to a controlling Dark Lord who has an obsession with him and claims to know more about Corvus' past then even he himself does.No one said being a teenager was easy...Based loosely off of “The Time Travellers Wife”





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.  
> \- Thomas Hardy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow if your'e reading this it means you clicked onto my story which is a surprise because the summary sucks lol. So I thank you! 
> 
> This is my first attempt at writing and there will not doubt be grammatical errors and what not. I've got the whole story plotted out and I have 3 fics in mind so i'm very excited but I won't continue if people don't like it. Soooo, please let me know what you think?
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I see people writing these and they always look official so I will too. All the characters belongs to JK Rowling and not me unfortunately.

When Voldemort was told Peter Pettigrew, the best friend of some well-known Order members had arrived at the Malfoy Manor shaking from fear and asking for the Dark Lord, he knew exactly what he was there for. Striding up to him in anticipation, Voldemort ripped his mind apart to scrap every drop of information he could. Once done he leaned back from Pettigrew and laughed, the sound bouncing off the marble floors and walls. Lucius and Narcissa both flinched but remained silent. Pettigrew jumped so violently he almost fell over and began whimpering.

“Our young friend here has delivered a most generous gift,” Voldemort said, his voice silky and brimming with satisfaction. He smiled at Pettigrew, the disgust barely concealed in his eyes before turning and looking at both Lucius and Narcissa. “You see, Pettigrew here has been good friends with James Potter for many years and he and his wife only today, rather foolishly might I add, made Pettigrew the secret keeper to their location”.

Lucius and Narcissa both widened their eyes as they listened to their Lord speak. Voldemort continued, relishing in the torment his words were causing Pettigrew, “Thanks to Pettigrew, his good friends and their child shall be dead before the night is up”. Voldemort looked back down at Pettigrew once more before wiping his smile and saying in a harder voice to Lucius, “Ensure you watch our guest Lucius. I will return shortly and then we shall celebrate”.

Without another word Voldemort disapparated.

Kids were everywhere dressed up, wandering the streets in search of lollies when Voldemort arrived in Godrics Hallow. All of them too preoccupied to spare the lone black figure walking by a glace. He was walking with a purpose, his excitement encouraging his long legs to move quicker. His face however remained impassive, save for the eyes that held a wicked gleam in them. He rounded a corner connecting to a quieter, more deserted street and halted as he finally saw what he was looking for. Had he come here merely an hour earlier the object would be invisible to him. Voldemort gave a small smirk to himself, unable to control it. This game was too easy for him now. All he had to do was sit back and the pieces would all come to him. Pettigrew, the disgusting vermin he is, was not without his uses apparently.

Taking a deep satisfied breath, Voldemort continued his silent ascent, his walk a lot more controlled. Stopping just outside of their little fence at the gate and looking in through their window, he could see the tall, black haired man in his glasses, clearly James Potter, making puffs of coloured smoke erupt from his wand for the amusement of the small black-haired boy in his blue pyjamas. He continued watching as a door opened and a lady with long, red hair, Lily Potter, walked in and said something to James. James scooped the baby up and handed him over to Lily before throwing his wand on the couch and stretched, yawning.

Deciding to move now, Voldemort took his wand out from under his robe and pushed the gate open slowly, the creaking of it unaware to those inside. Pointing his wand at the door it burst open, breaking the outside silence. James reached him as he had stepped over the threshold, however without his wand he was useless.

James looked at Voldemort, the fear and shock almost tangible and yelled to his wife, “Lily he’s here! Quick take Harry and run. I’ll hold him off-”

He would hold him off, the greatest wizard alive, without a wand? Voldemort laughed cruelly, full of derision as he pointed his wand at James’ chest and without hesitation sent a green jet soaring at him. James Potter fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

Turning his sights to the staircase to his left, he leisurely walked up them, as he listened to Lily Potters screams with faint amusement. He knew she had nowhere to go, the ward set up blocked both people trying to enter as well as leave. When he reached a closed door where the screams were the loudest, he swiped his wand and forced the door open. With another lazy flick of the wand, he moved the chair and boxes Lily had used to try to hold him off with.

Voldemort moved into the room, his eyes latching onto the little black-haired boy, his supposed downfall. At the sight of the other wizard though, Lily turned and dropped her son into the cot behind her before quickly turning back around to face him.

With her face streaming of tears, and long, red hair frizzed from sweat, she looked at Voldemort and began to beg, “Please not my son! Please not Harry! Kill me instead!”.

Voldemort considered her silently, less surprised that the mudblood forgot her wand than her pureblood husband. How stupid they were and how trusting to leave their safety up to their friends.

“Please, not my son! Please!” Lily continued to beg, her whole body shaking with sobs, however in vain as Voldemort raised his wand once again and threw a green light at her. Lily dropped like her husband without another sound.

Voldemort moved closer to the cot holding the baby who had not cried once so far. He remembered the babies at the orphanage and their insufferable tears. Being this close to the child who was standing and clutching onto the bars, he was able to look at him properly for the first time. Voldemort felt his body freeze as he looked at the boy’s eyes; the bright green so familiar it pierced his heart. The child continued to stare back unblinking as if aware of the inner turmoil occurring within the wizard.

A sudden noise broke Voldemort from his captivation and he turned to his left to look for the cause of it. The cupboard was slightly ajar, toys pooling out of it most likely from his own spell throwing the mudbloods obstacles around the room. There was a window just to the side of the cupboard where not a car was insight, however Voldemort knew that the second he had broken into the house that the numerous protection spells over the it would have alerted the order and they would not be arriving by muggle transportation.

The child made a small noise of disagreement as if demanding the stranger’s attention back onto him. Turning back to the black-haired child he ignored the feeling in his heart and turned it into anger as he raised his wand and deliberately aimed it directly at the kid’s forehead.

This kid was the prophesised downfall of him, the greatest and most powerful wizard of all time? Perhaps he should have given the child a chance to grow up and become a worthy opponent to entertain him. But no, Voldemort knew that kind of thinking is what got great men slain. The child started to cry as it realised he wasn’t his mother or father playing one of their silly games. Grimacing at the noise Voldemort threw the killing curse for the third time tonight and felt pain beyond his comprehension. He saw blackness and heard screams from what sounded like every direction before he fled.

\-----------------------------------------

“Fuck” the man whispered to himself angrily as he landed on something sharp. Looking down he saw he was seated on some sort of muggle toy within a cramped cupboard, “ _Of course_ it had to happen now”.

Still shaking from the unexpected travel, Corvus awkwardly tried to get up without making any noise in case someone was nearby. “Anti-apparation wards are up” he muttered to himself, noticing the slightly compressing feeling of them as he reached into his jacket pocket and grabbed his wand. Feeling more confident he slowly pushed one of the doors opened and surveyed the room looking for any signs of danger.

To his right was a baby cot pressed up against the wall, with a cradle above it containing what appeared to be a mini quidditch game with the players flying around slowly. On the other side of the room under the window was a worn looking rocking chair with some toy boxes neatly beside it.  It appeared he was in a baby’s room.

With his wand held in front of him, Corvus pushed his sweaty hair back off his forehead and walked silently to the bedroom door and pressed his right ear against it and could hear some voices but not enough to understand. Leaning back, he pressed his wand to his same ear and whispered  _audientis_ and pressed it back. He could hear a couple of spells going off followed child’s laughter and then what sounded like a man’s, judging from the deepness. Someone else was in another room but he could hear light footsteps, so it was either another child, or a small adult. Still leaning against the door, he heard the light footsteps carry closer to where the laughter was and then a door open.

“James, I think it’s time for Harry to go to bed” said a female, her voice soft and not one Corvus had ever heard before. He froze hearing the word Harry and James. Did he really get transported back to watch Voldemort kill his birth parents? Fate really hated him. It’s not as if Corvus really cared for Lily and James Potter. Even though they were his biological parents, Corvus never knew them so has no memories associated with them and also, they were foolish enough to let _Dumbeldore_ get in their head and convert them, he thought with disgust. They made their own beds as harsh as that was.

Corvus closed his eyes to concentrate harder as a slight breeze came through the open window and tussled his already messy hair. He tensed as he heard Lily move towards the staircase and walk up. Opening his eyes and removing his ear from the door, Corvus moved back and reverted his hearing back to normal and cast a spell on himself to silence his breathing and rather than dissolution himself as skilled wizards could sense that, he raced into the cupboard from which he came from. He left the door slightly ajar, so he could watch what happened. Even though he would be watching the murder of his mother and the attempted murder on himself as a baby, he was too intrigued to not look.

Suddenly a loud bang resounded from downstairs followed by James screaming “Lily he’s here! Quick take Harry and run. I’ll hold him off-”. Corvus felt adrenaline kick in as he was standing hidden in the cupboard. I have immaculate timing don't I, Corvus thought to himself ruefully.

The bedroom door opened roughly and Corvus angled his body, so it wasn’t being touched by the limited light that was in the room. He watched as a thin lady with long, red hair carrying a dark-haired baby slammed the door shut. Corvus looked at Lily curiously trying to see any resemblance. He had never even seen a picture of his birth mother before and he thought she was pretty, even with tears gushing down her face. Looking at the baby in her arms that was him, he saw the same mop of messy black hair and startling green eyes. The only major difference apart from their sizes obviously was the lack of lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Corvus wondered for a quick second how different his life would be if he intervened and saved Lily from his master. If he just walked out of this closet right now and apparated them all away. He would have grown up as Harry and not Corvus, hating the dark arts, fighting Voldemort with Dumbledore and the other muggle lovers. Corvus shook his head in disgust. He quite liked his life the way it was. Besides if he intervened, that would alter the world drastically and most likely prevent Corvus from ever being able to time jump meaning he wouldn’t be able to intervene in the first place.

Instead of dwelling on the paradox and giving himself a headache Corvus watched as Lily raced to grab the rocking chair under window and shoved it under the door handle and repeated with the toy boxes. Corvus sneered, what witch in hiding would leave their most important weapon laying out of reach?

Corvus stiffened, his body hardening all over as he sensed the Dark Lord finally standing on the other side of the bedroom door.

The man practically  _oozed_ with magic.

It was an almost suffocating darkness, full of whispered promises, guilty pleasures and hidden desires. It was the kind of magic to invoke thousands of respectable withes and wizards to pledge their lives to your cause. Just feeling his presence outside almost made Corvus snort for considering trying to help Lily.

Corvus watched as the bedroom door was blasted open with a great force and the weak barriers were thrown aside hitting beside the cupboard door. He barely flinched as the items were thrown near him and instead his eyes hungrily sought out his master even though he had just come from him in his time. There in the door way stood an attractive man, his face hallowed, with high cheek bones, wavy brown hair and cold dark blue eyes.  _Tom_ , Corvus through to himself, itching to leave the cupboard and touch him. Seeing him, Corvus wanted to warn his master of what was about to happen he knew he couldn't.

Greedily absorbing Voldemort with his eyes, he took in everything from the confident, lazy way he stood practically screaming out arrogance, to the way his eyes showed faint amusement, no doubt also finding Lily's attempt to lock him out humorous. Corvus watched as he slowly edged into the room, eyes absorbed on the baby. Lily dropped him in the cot and turned back to face Voldemort and proceeded to beg.

Corvus felt a strange pang of sadness as he watched his master raise his wand and kill Lily. Even though he thought her foolish, she did sacrifice herself for him which is the only reason Corvus could be standing her watching this right now. Ignoring his guilt, he looked at his master and saw him hesitating to kill the baby. Voldemort just looked at him and moved closer until he was standing right in front of the baby and stiffened.

I bet it’s the eyes that’s halting him, Corvus thought feeling a sick kind of happiness that even on an apparently random child, Voldemort was struck by his eyes. He couldn’t see Voldemort’s face anymore and was curious to see his expression. Corvus tried to lean over and see clearer yet as he did he felt his foot brush a toy and move it slightly making a noise. Even though it was a soft sound, it pierced the dead silence causing Voldemort to turn and look in the direction of the cupboard.

He held his breath in anticipation even though the spell was keeping it silent. Voldemort’ eyes grazed over where he was standing and then turned toward the window and looked out before turning back to the baby who had finally made a noise.

Corvus released his silent breath and watched as his master finally raised his wand on the boy, pointing it directly as his head. He heard the two deadly words and saw a flash of green envelop the room before he felt pain take over his whole body.

Corvus felt himself fall to the ground and felt more than heard himself scream. What felt like hours later but was merely seconds, the pain slowly receded and eventually became a pounding in his head. Opening his eyes, he realised he had fallen out of the cupboard and was lying on the ground. Getting up shakily, he looked around for his master and saw no one except the screaming baby in the cot.

Corvus was not expecting that. He never in his wildest imagination would have thought that he would also feel the pain of that. It must have been the soul in his forehead that caused the pain feeling the rest of its soul splitting once again. Rubbing his face hard to try to ease the now pounding headache, Corvus quickly got up and went to get back into the cupboard. He was told he was brought to the Malfoys by a follower of the Dark Lord and did not want to interfere.

Freezing as he thought over what just went through his head, Corvus laughed, "Of course". 

 _He_ was the mysterious man that had brought Corvus to the Malfoy. He had always wanted to know who the mysterious follower was that determined his whole upbringing, but his master would never tell him, no doubt trying to infuriate him. This explained so much. “How thick can you get,” Corvus asked himself quietly.  

Corvus walked towards himself as a baby and cocked his head slightly to the side as he stared at the child’s back. It lay face down in the cot screaming still, the sounds washing over him as he thought. He heard the unmistakable sound of someone apparating just downstairs. He dimly recognised that all the anti-apparation and protection wards had been destroyed during the failed  _avada kadevra_. This will no doubt be the Order of the Pheonix after being notified of an attack. Without a second thought, stunned the wailing child to quieten him apparated them both away.

\------------------------------------------

Corvus appeared on the side of a lane, baby Harry, as referring to this child as Corvus felt too strange to him, still out cold in his arms. To his left stood a high, neatly manicured hedge travelling the length of the entire side of the lane. It was dark and silent, save for Corvus’ even breathing.

He glanced around him, wand raised, careful not to point it too close to the baby’s eyes and whispered “ _lumos”_. Satisfied that they were alone he glanced down at Harry unable to grasp that this was himself he was holding. He had never had much experience with babies, let alone how to hold one comfortably. Giving a small shake of his head he lifted his eyes and proceeded to walk in the direction he was facing knowing the entrance was ahead.  Sure enough, within a minute of walking, the hedge revealed an entrance with a wrought iron gate in the middle of the gap. On top of the gate designed in metal shone the Malfoy emblem. Walking forward Corvus wondered if the dark mark upon his forearm would still allow him passage. Thankfully as he neared the gate, it opened silently inwards and without stopping, Corvus continued closer to the now visible mansion.

The handsome building, massive in all its glory stood proudly. As Corvus walked down the straight, pebbled path, he took in the beautiful landscape surrounding the house from fountains, to beautifully designed hedges in various shapes and objects. As he was eyeing off a peacock walking by him minding its own business, Corvus couldn’t help but let out a snort. Even though he had grown up here, the level of grandeur made him smile lightly.

With the gravel crunching under his feet, he reached the front door and hesitated before knocking firmly. Taking a step back, Corvus adjusted Harry's weight in his arm and brushed his own hair to cover his scar. He did not need Mr Malfoy having any suspicions of his identity.

Suddenly he heard footsteps from inside the house and bracing himself, Corvus waited in anticipation for the door to open. He obviously knew the Malfoys would take him in and raise him though he was still nervous about how to handle this.

The door opened to reveal Dobby the family house elf. The little creature stood about waist height and was wearing a torn up rag as a sort of sarong. Dobby looked at Corvus with fear and curiosity and was about to open his mouth when footsteps sounded from behind him.

“What is it Dobby?” Lucius Malfoy stood tall, still dressed in his day robes made of the finest material. His long, blonde hair was tied at the nape and he held his wand in his hand as he took in the scene before him. Corvus realised how strange this must be to Lucius, a stranger standing at his door holding a baby late at night.

Lucius walked closer, bypassing Dobby and looked down his nose at Corvus. Eyeing the sleeping baby he sneered, “My sincerest apologies but we will not be taking anyone in tonight”. Corvus almost scoffed at his adopted father, the words were practically dripping with insincerity.  However not knowing how long he would be in this time for, he straightened his back and hardened his eyes, to try to convey the seriousness of the situation.

“Mr Malfoy you do not know me, but I know all about you. I am on the dark side with you and our Lord,” Corvus said. “Something very terrible has happened tonight and the Dark Lord has delivered me to convey an order of dire importance”.

Lucius tightened his hand on his wand, his face full of suspicion as he listened to Corvus speak. His eyes conveyed his distrust, however before he could reply Corvus cut him off and continued, “I am perfectly aware of your suspicion and mistrust in me and if you weren’t I would call you a fool. However, we do not have time to argue as time is limited, and I have much to tell you”

Lucius stared at Corvus in silent contemplation before narrowing his eyes and snapping, “Dobby leave us!” With a squeal Dobby vanished, leaving the two wizards in a standoff. Lucius, still holding his wand raised it and pointed at Corvus’ left arm demanded silkily, “Show me your arm”. Corvus expecting this, lifted his left arm without word, carful to not move Harry and with his right arm he moved the sleeve back revealing the pitch-black tattoo that was slightly moving. Corvus kept his eyes trained on Lucius and watched as his narrowed eyes darted down and back up to meet his own. Moving closer to Corvus, Lucius hissed menacingly, “You may come in but just know that my house is a fortress, and should you try anything you will be incapacitated. Should this turn out to be a lie, you will not leave here. Understood?”

“Of course,” said Corvus cooly. Lucius eyed him once more before stepping back and allowing Corvus to walk in. As he stepped over the threshold he turned his attention to the familiar foyer, taking in the large marble staircase in the centre of the room and marble pillars, noting nothing had changed in all the years to come. The room was as immaculate as ever. 

“Follow me,” Lucius said as he turned and with a flick of his hand the door closed. Ensuring that he was walking not too far in front of Corvus to render him defenceless, Lucius began walking in the direction of the hallway to the right of the staircase. Stopping outside the first door, Corvus recognised it as Lucius’ study. Lucius opened the door and held his arm up to usher Corvux in before himself. It was not out of manners, Corvus knew, but a reluctance to allow Corvus out of his sight even for the briefest of seconds.

As Corvus walked into the room, it lit up brightly showing the large bookcase up against the far wall and the large mahogany desk in the middle of the room with a seat either side. Walking to his obvious seat, he sat down and adjusted Harry, so he was lying down on his lap with his left arm under his neck.

Lucius sat down behind the desk and spoke before Corvus could, “What is your name?”

“I cannot say,” Corvus said shaking his head softly.

“Why are you here?” Lucius continued, stapling his hands together on the desk, frustration evident in his voice.

“I have been sent from the future by the Dark Lord himself to deliver a task to you,” Corvus lied slightly unsure of how he got to this time which was definitely  _not_ on his master’s orders. “He wished for me to deliver a task of great importance to you”.

“What is this task?” Lucius asked suspiciously eyeing the baby in Corvus’ arms.

“First, I need to inform you something,” Corvus started and paused unsure how to continue with such a serious topic. “The Dark Lords body has been destroyed,” he finished bluntly. Lucius gasped, ready to fire his outrage before Corvus continued, “He was told of the Potters whereabouts as you might have known and there was a…complication”.

Lucius looked as if he were about to curse Corvus for even suggesting the Dark Lord could be bested. Cutting him off quickly Corvus said impatiently, “Frankly, I don’t care if you believe me about this. News will spread like friendlyfr about what has happened tonight to the Dark Lord. Just know however that no matter what you hear, the Dark Lord will return stronger than ever and when he does he will expect you to have completed his task”.

“What task?” hissed Lucius impatiently, leaning forward slightly and looking furious that he had been cut off once again by this stranger especially in his own house.

“The Dark lord wishes for you to take care off and raise this child as if it were your own. You are to ask no questions as to why but just know this will be the most important task you have ever and will ever receive,” said Corvus, internally smirking, feeling slightly vain that he was referring to the task of looking after his baby self as ‘the most important tast’.

“I can’t just adopt a baby! Do you know who I am?” Lucius exclaimed looking disgusted at the idea.

Corvus smirked softly, “I most definitely know who you are Lucius Malfoy. You are married to Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. You have one son, for the moment, who is one. I knew where you lived, and I know you have another house in Salazar Hills. I also know you like your coffee black with 2 sugars”.

Lucius’ face swiftly flicked from shocked which turned into anger before settling onto wary, “why do you know so much about me?”

“We are greatly acquainted in the future. I need your assurance that you will complete this task from the Dark Lord and then I will be off”

“Do you really expect me to believe all of this off a  _child_ ,” Lucius spat, the scorn evident in his voice. Corvus narrowed his eyes at the word child while Lucius continued,” Especially one I’ve never met before?”

Corvus leaned back in his chair and internally sighed. He did realise how hard it would be to convince the Malfoys to accept the baby, but it was still tiring. They weren’t dumb people and this story was very suspicious however his childhood was the proof that they somehow had accepted this story and taken him in. At least he only had to convince one of them Corvus thought as he pictured trying to sway his adopted mother. She was a lot tougher than Lucius he thought to himself grinning internally.

“Mr Malfoy, I swear to you on my magic that I am from the future and that there is no secret motivation in delivering you this baby. This child is of great importance to the Dark Lord in the future and shall you complete this job you will be favoured like no other,” Corvus said seriously, bright green eyes unwavering from Mr Malfoys cold grey ones. “No doubt tomorrow morning, if not tonight, you will hear the news that the Dark Lord has been destroyed for good giving evidence to my story, but do not sway loyalties or believe you can neglect your task. He will be back, as I said before, I can promise you that”.

 Lucius, with the control only possessed by purebloods trained to possess from birth, did not give any outward sign of defeat or acceptance. Hardening his gaze, still locked on to Corvus as if to detect any lies, he nodded so slightly it almost looked like a twitch.

“I accept the task the Dark Lord has given me and will raise this child as my own. However, no one will believe he is my child because as you have already pointed out, I have my own son roughly the same age. Nor does he look anything like my wife or I,” Lucius said staring intently at the still stunned baby as if trying to work out an extremely difficult puzzle.

Corvus not needing to even think of the answer, just thought of his life story and what he had been told growing up. God time travel was strange he mused to himself.

“You will tell people you and your wife adopted him. Say he is the child of one of your close pureblood friends in France who were recently killed showing their support to the Dark Lord. You and your wife out of an act of mercy requested you raise their son as he had no other family. Don’t advertise him though; only tell those that need to know as anyone with a suspicion can easily trace it and find the story is false and we do not need the wrong people finding out”.

Lucius, who had been glancing between Harry and Corvus throughout the speech finally settled on Corvus and asked silkily, “and might I inquire who he really is?”

“No, I am afraid not,” shot back Corvus smoothly feeling slightly more confident now that Lucius seemed to be on board a bit more.

Lucius sneered, “Fine what is his name?”

Corvus opened his mouth and closed it hesitating. He can’t believe he was the one to name himself. He used to _hate_ his name was a passion and  _he_ was the one to name himself. He opened him mouth again and answered firmly, “His name is Corvus. It is now Corvus Malfoy”.

Lucius noticed Corvus’ hesitation but didn’t comment on it. Instead he asked with a hint of derision evident, “Are there any other requests for young Corvus?”

Corvus had already thought on this and nodded, swiftly answering, “Yes. I understand you and your wife both went to Hogwarts but Corvus must be sent to Durmstrang.” He knew he didn’t look like Lily Potter after seeing her tonight, but he wasn’t sure what James Potter looked like which meant he didn’t know if he himself looked anything like his father and didn’t want to risk anyone recognising him if he went to Hogwarts. Besides, he had met some of his closest friends at Durmstrang. “Also, do not tell him of me bringing him here. He is to know only what the public knows and no more. Do not raise suspicion in him. Treat him and care for him as if you had actually chosen to adopt him from your deceased friends”.

“Understood,” said Malfoy. Corvus, about to say something else stopped when Lucius suddenly barked, “Dobby!”

Dobby appeared instantly with a pop, landing beside the desk and bowing to Lucius. Lucius not glancing at the snivelling creature but with eyes on the baby said, “Take the baby and put him in Dracos room. Make a duplicate cot”

Dobby turned and faced Corvus and bowed before walking closer and holding his arms to take the baby from him. Corvus held his arms out, finally relieved to be getting rid of the child, the weight making his arms go numb. Instead of apparating to the designated room, the elf walked out to not wake the child.

Corvus stretched his now empty arms, attempting to get the blood moving again. Suddenly a wave of nausea hit him, and his head become so light he almost fell out of the chair. His lungs felt like they were getting smaller and smaller, air becoming much harder to grasp. He grabbed the seat of his chair to steady himself and closed his eyes and attempted to breath slowly. Recognising the signs of time travel, he knew he would be going back any minute.

Lucius stood up looking wary and slightly concerned, “What is the matter?”

“I have accomplished what I came here to do, and I am about to be sent back to my correct time any second,” Corvus said, feeling dizzy and wanting nothing more than to stop talking but he needed to be sure that Lucius knew what to do. “Don’t forget, he must be sent to Durmstrang and only tell those that need to know about the boy”

Corvus watched as Lucius opened his mouth to reply before suddenly he felt his body being pulled by some invisible force and then it all went black leaving the Malfoy Manor and 1981 behind.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter up quickly. I will definitely not have the next chapter up this quick so apologies in advance!
> 
> Also if there's any mistakes please let me know. Constructive criticism is welcomed.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: It aint mine and all the characters belong to JK Rowling and this is just for fun

As soon as the strange man had apparently disappeared back to his own time, something that Lucius was still unsure about, he rushed and told his wife naturally.

Lucius found her in their bathroom getting ready to retire for the evening. Narcissa was everything Lucius could want in a wife. She was poised, proper and pure, among many other flattering adjectives essentially rendering her perfect. She was staring at herself in the mirror, in the process of removing an earring, a black dressing gown made of the finest materials hugged her body. Her blonde hair, not as platinum as his own, was pooled loosely around her shoulders. She wore a calm expression and as she made eye contact with him in the mirror she raised an eyebrow in question.

“What is the matter?” she asked, without turning around, a slight frown marring her pretty face as she took in his tense face.

Lucius walked closer to her, so he was standing in the doorway and hesitated for the briefest second before telling her the entire evening. By the end of the explanation Lucius was very surprised at how well she was handling it. When he first told her of the Dark Lord’s destruction, Narcissa widened her eyes ever so slightly before going impassive. When he had spoken of their task Narcissa logically pointed out that out of all the tasks the Dark Lord could have requested of them, raising a baby wasn’t the most difficult, especially considering they already have one the same age.

Lucius argued back and asked her if she really believed that someone from the future was sent by the Dark Lord. Narcissa delicately shrugged at that and said, “stranger things have happened”.

However, Lucius not believing this blasé attitude, constantly probed and questioned her until she finally revealed the real reason she wasn’t upset.

Lucius had known there was complications with Draco’s birth, but he hadn’t realised the depth of it or the emotional strain left on Narcissa. She didn’t think she would have been able to go through another birth but didn’t want Draco to grow up alone without a sibling. This was the solution to a problem Lucius didn’t know he needed.

So, life went on at the Malfoy Manor, somewhat lighter than before. Once Lucius had seen that Narcissa was all for the child, almost all reservations were gone. Narcissa upon hearing the child’s name was Corvus had seemed to think that settled matters entirely as that, like other members of her family, was a star constellation.

Lucius grew to love Corvus as much as he loved Draco, yet he couldn’t help but feel slightly begrudged when Corvus displayed magical abilities long before Draco. Seeing how happy and close the boys grew to be, both Narcissa and Lucius began wondering if they had been given a task at all.

\-------------------------------------------

_13 years later_

Corvus awoke with a gasp, sitting up in his bed quickly, silk sheet pooling around his bare chest. It wasn’t anything particularly frightening or gruesome he had been dreaming about; just a plain old room that look like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while and a massive snake that would glide in and out of focus. He had been having the same dream consistently these past weeks, each getting clearer every time.

However, it hadn’t been the dream itself that had woken Corvus so suddenly and caused his heart to skyrocket. It had been the invading presence in his mind right at the end. He had never experienced it before during the dreams, and it made Corvus feel uncomfortably reminded of the feeling of legilimency.

It was only a dream, he reminded himself firmly, rubbing his prickling scar, trying to calm his racing heart. But a small traitorous part of his mind didn’t think so.

Moving the sheet off him and getting up out of bed, Corvus stretched and groaned. He glanced to his left side and looked out of his window overlooking acres of land and clear blue sky. Last day waking up to a clear sky, Corvus reminded himself somewhat crestfallen as he made his way to his bathroom. His body soaked up the sun and shone a brilliant tan constantly, even after spending entire semesters at Durmstrang where it snowed and rained continually forcing him to stay indoors.

Corvus relieved his bladder and walked into his closest and grabbed a stylish black outer-robe embroidered with silver. Casual yet classy. As he was getting dressed, he looked over himself in the mirror, forever thankful he had a silent, non-enchanted one.

His parents were nagging him to get a haircut but Corvus decided he liked it at this length as it covered his unusual scar. His black hair was slightly crimped in natural waves, a few unruly strands curling at the end. He had high cheekbones and a sharp jawline, all characteristics of the aristocratic pureblood look. The sharp, defining features of his face made him look older than his age, though he still had an air of youth to him. He was lean from the constant duelling and physical combat at school and quidditch games, however he would never be tall. He was half a head shorter than Draco which apparently was Draco’s greatest achievement of all time, constantly mentioning it.  Completing his look and crossing him over to the _pretty_ side of the look scale were his eyes; their hue the deepest green. He remembered on his fifth birthday he had received a permanent eye restoring potion from his parents. Very useful for duelling as he didn’t have to rely on something to see. While Corvus was not vain and didn’t give a care to his looks, he would admit that they had their advantages. Pretty people were trusted more, found more likeable. All these things he could use to his benefit.  

Leaving his room, he followed the corridor until it reached the staircase occasionally replying to a portrait that had said greetings.

“Morning,” said Corvus as he entered the dining room and spotted his brother sitting at the table eating breakfast and reading a letter. “What have we got here?” he asked, trying to peek at the contents as he walked around the table.

Draco, eyes wide, snapped it close to his chest, the writing hidden from view, “No one! I mean nothing”.

Corvus laughed, sitting down in the chair opposite of Draco and said mock seriously, “and to think all my life I had been calling it the wrong thing. Shame on you all for not correcting me!”

Draco looked slightly sheepish at his outburst, discreetly folding his letter and hurrying to change the subject, “You are up earlier than usual,” Draco looked up at the wall at the huge clock, “It’s hardly seven yet”.

Corvus not wanting to think of his dream again said with false enthusiasm, “with the commencement of a new semester, I think it’s time for a new me!” He then looked down at the plate in front of him and tapped it with his wand. Suddenly ravenous, he said “Full English breakfast”. In a blink of an eye and a small pop, a perfectly cooked full English breakfast sat on his plate.

Draco snorted, “of course, my apologies for not realising”. 

Corvus held his knife up loosely and pointed it at Draco, saying in a teasing tone suggesting it were a great burden “I’ll be forgiving this one-time brother of mine”.

They ate their breakfast in relative silence, the only sound in the room was their cutlery and the occasional remark.  Corvus though arriving to breakfast much later, excused himself much quicker. As he was walking out of the room his Mother walked in and hugged him lightly, kissing him on the head.

“Good Morning to you both,” Nariccisa said releasing Corvus and glancing at Draco. She was dressed impeccably, with a light grey, causal dress on and hair in a tight bun at the bottom of her nape.

“Morning,” both Corvus and Draco replied.

“It’s a shame it’s the end of the holidays, I’ve enjoyed having you both here,” Narcissa said as she walked over to the head of the table and sat down. “Are you both ready for school?” She asked tapping her cup and murmuring “tea”.

“Yeah, I’m packed and ready, I just need to check over a couple of things,” Corvus said and turned to walk out as he had planned.

“Make sure you’re standing in the transport room ready by 9!” Corvus heard Narcissa call after him.

“yes, yes” he mumbled, rolling his eyes fondly, walking up the staircase. He was onto his fourth year at this school and he did know the routine.

Corvus returned to his room and glanced around feeling slightly lost. Something just didn’t feel right and on top of all that his scar was stinging lightly. Walking over to his mirror he leaned close and studied his scar. Why did it suddenly hurt? He had been born with it apparently, very unusual that no magic could heal it but Corvus had never thought too hard about it until now. And the constant dreams that felt so real! Corvus sighed loudly and threw himself on his bed face down. He had a bad feeling about this year.

\----------------------------------------

At 8:50, Corvus stood in the transport room along with the rest of his family. The room was spacious, with two large fireplaces built into it designed for floo travel. The room, as stated by its name, was designed for transportation. When expecting many guests travelling to the manor, the anti-apparation wards were able to be lifted from just this room easily, allowing the rest of the house to still be protected.

“Study hard this year and don’t get distracted,” Lucius said firmly, eyes flickering between the two boys. “Even though it is only your fourth year with no major exams, this will prepare you both for your OWL’s so take it seriously. Remember how respectable purebloods are expected to act and carry the Malfoy name with honour. Do all this and you’ll make your mother and I proud,” He finished with a charming smile, blonde hair neatly tied up.

Corvus straightened his back taking his father’s words to heart. Being adopted, he felt the pressure to prove his worth to the Malfoy family. He didn’t look a thing like them, looking far more like his mother’s family, the Black’s. So, he thrust himself into his studies and decided to learn everything he could about magic. He discovered he had an affinity to dark magic and Durmstrang only encouraged his skills. However not many people knew that about him, all thinking he was the intelligent, charming, laidback Malfoy who didn’t take anything seriously and could charm his way out of anything. Yet there was a ruthlessness and a cunningness beneath that façade that Corvus wanted to remain hidden. He suspected his father saw a bit of that side in him but never commented no doubt curious to see what his son would do.

Glancing at his brother in the corner of his eyes, Corvus felt like Draco was almost the opposite to himself. While Draco looked and acted tough and snooty, he was secretly sweet and incapable of fully hurting anymore. Oh, he could be brutal with his words but that was as far as the blonde boy would go.

His mother spoke, breaking his train of thought, “But don’t forget to also have fun you two. Please for the love of Merlin, owl me! Corvus I’m speaking to you mainly”. She walked over to him and hugged him tightly this time, as he smiled crookedly at her.

“But Mother, I’m doing as instructed and studying hard. You wouldn’t want me getting distracted and tarnishing the Malfoy name, would you?” he teased.

She glared at him, “I’m sure you could spare 20 minutes for your mother once every two weeks or so”. She walked over to Draco and hugged him, saying her goodbyes. Corvus turned from looking at them when he felt a hand clasp onto his shoulder. Glancing up he saw his father staring down at him. Hating feeling so short but unable to really do anything, Corvus straightened his back, causing Lucius to smile slightly.

“Goodbye son,” he said, grey eyes staring into green. The grey eyes suddenly so quickly glanced up and rested on the lightning bolt scar causing Corvus to go rigid. It was almost as if Lucius knew the scar had been irritating him. Before Corvus could say anything, his father removed his hand and went to Draco. Suddenly feeling the desire to be back at school, Corvus willed 9:00 to hurry up. As if summoned by his thoughts alone, it lit up. Grabbing the floo powder and walking into the fireplace without seeming too eager he turned and faced his parents one last time and plastered a large smile, “Try not to miss me too much”. Throwing the floo powder down, he said firmly, “Durmstrang!”

Having closed his eyes to avoid powder getting in them, Corvus quickly opened them when his feet hit ground hard. He was in a large room with a massive archway in its entrance, the contents full of people and the many fireplaces against the wall. He recognised them all as they were all in his year level. On their letters they received weeks ago with their required book lists, it listed the time your fireplace would connect with the school to avoid a jam, each year level a different time.

Walking out of the fireplace elegantly, Corvus raised his wand and non-verbally removed the dust that had settled on his robe. Glancing around for Josefina, he nodded his head at those that greeted him. Finally seeing the back of the petite witch surrounded by two of her friends, he walked over and hugged her from behind and placed a sweet peck on her cheek, causing her to jump slightly from surprise.

“I missed you,” he said softly as she turned around. Josefina Johansson, one of the few females at the predominantly male school, was easily the most beautiful. The pureblood witch was slim and while she was short, she carried herself confidently seeming taller. That is what had drawn Corvus to her originally; she was a girl that knew what she wanted and went for it, a trait that he admired very much.

“Corvus!” she exclaimed happily, her pale cheeks reddening as she leant up to put her arms around his neck and hug him. He saw her friends, Mariella Hayes and Idris Haas looking at them blushing slightly at their affection.

As Josephina released him and stood beside him, Corvus nodded his head towards Hayes and Haas, grinning, “Morning ladies”. They both returned the greetings and politely started a conversation by themselves, giving the couple some privacy.

“How was your summer?” Josephina asked, beaming up at him, her Swedish accent evident.

Corvus shrugged elegantly, “It was fine. Bit of reading, played some quidditch. And yours? You didn’t owl me much”. He said the last part slightly accusingly, somewhat sympathising with his mother now for being so upset with him when he didn’t owl her.

Josephina looked guilty, “I know I’m so sorry Corvus. I did tell you Sasha was sick, and she couldn’t deliver letters of that length and you know Claudia”. She scowled, “The little snot wouldn’t let me borrow her owl”. Claudia was Josephina’s younger sister two grades below them. She had not inherited the family beauty as much as Josephina had, though there was something about her that was captivating that drew people in.

“Its fine, the lack of letters just forced me spend more time with Draco,” Corvus fake shuddered.

Josephina laughed looking past Corvus at something, eyes softening, “Draco is great”. Corvus followed her gaze and spotted the Malfoy heir surrounded by his henchman, all riveted by whatever it was he was saying.

“I suppose he goes alright,” Corvus replied smirking. As if sensing the eyes on him Draco looked up and made contact. Saying something to his friends, he strutted over to them.

“Hello Josephina, how were your holidays?” Draco asked politely standing beside them both, his blonde hair impeccably smoothed to the side, not a hair out of place. The complete opposite to Corvus’ which refused to lie still and instead was wavy and slightly longer, just hanging over his head.

Josephina smiled at him, “Great thanks, and yourself? I heard you and Corvus spent a lot of quality time together”.

“Ah yes, do not make me relive it. Dreadful stuff it was”

Before Corvus could defend himself, their head of year level appeared under the archway of the room. Since Durmstrang was so small, with each year level having roughly 30 students, they split the dorms into 7 giant rooms, one for each grade, with each grade having a different head of year level. There’s was Professor Merrill; a thin, stern looking lady in her mid-40’s with short black hair always pulled tight in a bun. Come to think of it all the staff at Durmstrang were stern looking.

“Attention please,” Professor Merrill said, and everyone went quiet. She smiled and swept her gaze over them all. “Welcome back for your fourth year. I’m sure you’re all looking forward to it as much as I am”.

Corvus heard someone snicker from behind him.

“I expect you all to study hard this year, like I expect every year. You all know what is expected of you, so I won’t waste all our times and repeat unnecessary things. If you have any questions or concerns you all know where my office is. I will see you all at Lunch at 11:30 in your uniforms” and with that Professor Merrill turned and left disappearing the way she came.

At once all the students started walking out of the room and in the direction of their dorms on the fourth floor. They had had the same dorms since their first year. At Durmstrang the first years would move into whichever rooms the most recent graduates were in. Draco bid farewell and went to walk to his friends. Corvus and Josephina, conversing, walked down one of the main hallways and headed towards the stairs. Feeling a presence on his right, he turned to see Ulf Hemming join him.

“Hey Corvus, how were your holidays?” Hemming asked, interrupting Josephina, his voice sounding as squeaky as you’d expect by looking at him.

Corvus internally scowled, his face tightening slightly at being addressed so casually by someone he didn’t consider a friend. “Perfectly fine,” he murmured and turned to face the front hoping Hemming got the message.

Of course, he _didn’t_ get the message, as he never did and said “That’s great! Did you finish all the assigned work over the holidays? I completed mine in the first two weeks. I’ve got to say that advanced defence and dark arts essay on sacrificial bonding rituals was a nasty piece of work, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I know we were only meant to be write about 3 but I read about them all and thought 3 was too little”. Hemming looked at Corvus the whole time he spoke, the adoration so clear in his eyes.

Ulf Hemming was one of the few half-bloods at the school. He was from Sweden and his mother was a Pureblood, but his father was a muggle. Ever since their first year Hemming has been obsessed with Corvus. No matter what Corvus did or how rude he was to him, Hemming just bounced right back practically screaming for attention. At the beginning it had amused Corvus and he found it useful, however after the second year of constant following it began to tire.

“As stimulating and entertaining as I find this conversation Hemming,” Corvus emphasised the boys last name, “I’m afraid I must leave you here as this is my room as you would undoubtedly know”. Turning away from the crestfallen boy, Corvus faced Josephina who had been trying to stifle her giggles the entire time Hemming had been walking with them. “I’ll see you soon at lunch” he said leaning down and pecking her on the corner of her lip. Neither of them noticed the way Hemming was staring intently, a menacing glint in his eyes before he walked off towards his room.

Josephina walked away and Corvus opened his door to see his roommate and closet friend Edvin Laine already in their rummaging around his trunk. Thank Merlin, Corvus had gotten along with his roommate as well as he did. He couldn’t imagine having to constantly portray himself as the respectable Pureblood even behind closed doors. When they had first met on their first day at Durmstrang four years ago and saw they would be roommates, they both had sized the other up and attempted to intimidate the other and assert dominance. It became clear very soon that they were both alpha males however it also became evident to Edvin that Corvus wouldn’t bend. He eventually had offered his hand out to Corvus and ever since then they had become the closest friends, with Edvin probably seeing most of the darker side of Corvus that he tried so hard to hide. 

Edvin was the heir to a rich, respectable Pureblood family in Finland. He had short blonde hair and light blue eyes and was slightly taller than Corvus and unlike Corvus who was lean, Edvin was quite bulky. Even though he was bulky, he possessed the same grace that all purebloods did through constant training.

Corvus walked in and closed the door, walking to his side of the room to the right. Their room was quite big, and each side was a mirror image of the other. Both having a single bed, desk and built in cupboard and in the middle an ensuite for the both.

“Was that Hemming’s voice I heard outside just then?” Edvin asked, blonde hair in his eyes making him seem deceptively innocent.

Corvus threw him a dark look, “Yes. I’ve been back at school for not even an hour and I’ve already heard about his entire summer and how he wanked to a picture of me every night”.

Edvin widened his eyes, and then threw his head back and laughed. Looking back at Corvus he said, “You know it’s funny because its most likely true”. Corvus both smirked and grimaced at the same time which resulted in a funny face causing Edvin to laugh once again.

Walking over to his own luggage on the ground, without using his wand Corvus levitated it onto his bed to make it easier to unpack. “Can you really blame him? The poor boy is only human. The only good thing about Hemmings is his taste in men”.

“Keep telling yourself that Malfoy,” Edvin replied shaking his head, a small fond smile etched on his face. “Anyways, how were your holidays?”.

At 11:30 the boys both set of to the dining hall for lunch meeting fellow classmates on the way down. When they reached the Grand Hall, they strode over to the section for the fourth years. Corvus spotted Josephina sitting with her friends, which was thankfully far from Hemmings and both he and Edvin proceeded to sit down with them. The typical exchanges were shared amongst the group, each person trying to outdo the rest with the best holiday break. Which was hard to do considering majority of the students were from old families with an excess amount of money. About halfway through the lunch Professor Merril came through the fourth-year section and handed out their new class timetables.

Chris, a thin, lanky boy sitting across from Corvus make a noise of disgust as he looked over his timetable, “We have double potions straight up tomorrow”. It was common knowledge that Chris Rhodes wasn’t the brightest especially when it came to potions. Looking down at his own timetable, Corvus didn’t see a problem, though that probably came down to the face that he was just naturally good at all academics. He just _got things_ and found that most of the curriculum bored him.

Monday: potions, Transfiguration, Herbology  
Tuesday: Dark Arts, Defence, Physical Combat  
Wednesday: Light Studies, Healing, Ancient Runes  
Thursday: Advanced Dark Arts and Defence, Potions, Herbology  
Friday: Transfiguration, Physical Combat, Ancient Runes

Edvin whistled as he looked over Corvus’ shoulder at his timetable. “Damn Malfoy, you didn’t even want a study period?”

Corvus looked up and grinned cockily, “Just because some require a minute rest for their brains to catch up to the work doesn’t mean I do”

Edvin scoffed, “Whatever, just don’t come crying to me when you’re no longer number one in every class. I know how much you value that place”.

Chris who was listening to them, grabbed the timetable out of Corvus’ hands and read over it. His eyes widened as he read on, “I didn’t know we were even _allowed_ to do this many electives”.

“You’re not, but I spoke to Professor Merril at the end of the year and discussed the chances of me doing it and my goals for the future and the result is as you can see” Corvus said lightly filling the cup in front of him with pumpkin juice.

“What are your goals for the future?” Conrad Murray who was sitting beside Chris asked curiously. Conrad, Chris and Edvin all were looking at him waiting for an answer. Corvus never spoke of his plans. Everyone was wanting to know what the extremely charismatic and intelligent young Malfoy wanted to do in the future, many pushing him to do politics. He never answered people’s questions because truth be told he had no idea what he was going to do and also acting like he had some great plan that he didn’t want to divulge was fun.

He shrugged and winked, “You’ll see in the future”. He took a drink from his cup while the boys scoffed before changing the subject, “So what’s everyone’s plans after lunch?”.

Chris answered first, frowning, “Well I really need to get my grades up-“  

“No shit” Edvin interrupted snorting.

“-so I was thinking of organising my books and maybe getting a head start on the readings” Chris finished dejectedly, throwing Edvin a dirty look at his interruption.

Corvus could feel his eyebrows raising in disbelief, “What’s gotten into you over summer? This isn’t the Chris Rhodes we all know and somewhat like”.

“My fucking father is what has gotten into me,” Chris scowled furiously not realising exactly what he had said. Corvus and Edvin burst out laughing loudly, throwing their heads back, the noise attracting many others who looked on curiously. Conrad who had been eating while listening started to choke on his potato and required the help of Paige Phelps, a fellow girl in their grade to hit his back. Josephina who was talking to Mariella and Idris just shook her head lightly, amusement etched on her face.

“Good Merlin, I’d make a joke about choking but I don’t want to bring any distressing memories up,” Conrad said, his voice shaking with laughter and eyes slightly wet from choking.

Chris who had only just realised what he said scowled even harder, face slightly red and shoved Conrad who started laughing harder, “That’s fucking disgusting”.

“I was thinking you were walking a bit stiffer than usual,” Corvus remarked with a smirk.

“Yeah you are all hilarious. Really witty,” Chris said, the sarcasm dripping. “What I meant is Father ripped into me and threatened to take my trust fund away unless I get my grades up” he finished dejectedly. The boys had all sobered up and gave Chris looks of sympathy. Corvus and Draco both had extremely generous trust funds that they could access whenever they wished without notifying their parents. It was very helpful with buying questionable books even by his family’s standards without his parents seeing.

“That’s unfortunate” Edvin said, “Looks like we won’t be seeing much of you this semester then. Back to your original question Corvus. I have no plans, what do you have in mind?”

Corvus grinned and flexed his shoulders back, “I was thinking some physical combat practice?”

Edvin grinned back, probably excited to show off his newly developed strength, “Sounds good”.

“I’m in too,” Conrad said around his food, brown eyes lighting up.

Chris watching this turned thoughtful, “I mean, I’m sure my books are organised already enough, and I don’t really want to tire myself out from studying before term starts,” Rhodes said slowly, a smile forming on his face.

“Ah I found Rhodes,” Corvus said cheerfully. The boys burst out laughing again.

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Corvus found himself lying in bed, extremely sated and exhausted after a full welcoming feast and an intense round of physical combat. He smiled to himself thinking about how serious those practices always ended up being. Edvin who had always been the strongest of the boys, had only increased his strength over the summer and was very eager to demonstrate mainly on Corvus as he was the hardest opponent. Even though Corvus wasn’t very bulky, he was lithe and had a hidden strength about him, as well as being quick, often able to sidestep the attacks. Conrad who was average height and lean was a good opponent for the lanky body of Chris.

“Night,” muttered Edvin from the other side of the room as he got into bed and close the drapes around him. Knowing it blocked out a lot of the nose from the room, Corvus didn’t respond.

 Turning out his side light with a wave of his hand and rolling over to get more comfortable, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep, thinking about Josephina and her pretty smile and wondering if she would wear her hair in that pretty side style she often does.

Corvus dreamt that he was in the training room where they often did physical combat. Across from him was Josephina in a fighting stance ready to attack. She was wearing her school uniform, the deep red of the outfit making her look very white and her long blonde hair was in a low ponytail to the side with a black bow in it. She leaped at him and kicked her right leg out, which due to his surprise, got him firmly in the stomach pushing him back a bit. Air left his mouth in a rush, and Corvus quickly steadied himself and got into a defensive position.

She smiled wickedly at Corvus, blue eyes gleaming as she stood up straight and played with her ponytail. Corvus slowly relaxed his position as well and went to walk forward when he saw her reach into her jacket and pull out her wand. He stopped mid step and held his hands up in a submissive pose, one hand slowly reaching to grab his wand. Feeling the empty pocket, Corvus slowly raised his hand up again in surrender and slowly walked closer to her, “Josephina what are you doing?”

She cocked her head to the side and stared at Corvus in wonder, eyes calculating. By now he was standing just in front of her and she had the wand steadily pointed at him directly over his scar on his forehead, inches away. She opened her mouth to speak and whispered, “avada kadevra”.

Green light erupted from her wand in a flash and pain exploded in Corvus’ scar before the dream changed. He couldn’t see anything, only hear what sounded like a snake slowly hissing very close by. Suddenly a loud noise pierced the quiet room, followed by footsteps coming closer.

“My Lord!” a male voice said, the voice shaking with excitement. My Lord? Corvus thought to himself. Unlike his dream before with Josephina, Corvus felt conscious, he was mentally aware. Suddenly light violently pierced his eyes as a cloth was removed from his vision. He heard and felt a hiss come from his lips. His eyes quickly adjusted and Corvus mentally gasped. There was a body on the ground in front of him covered in blood. The man was either unconscious or dead Corvus thought and looked as though he been thrown carelessly to the ground, his limbs at awkward angles. “We have found a wizard in the town!”

He didn’t recognise the man in front of at all, however what worried him was that he was staring directly at him, leaning slightly forward in adoration. Corvus tried to move to look around but he was stuck, forced to look at whatever his host was looking at. Satisfaction that wasn’t Corvus’ exploded within. Suddenly a male voice erupted from Corvus, its coldness would have caused bumps along his arms were he in his own body. “Did anyone see?”

 “No, My Lord. I was in disguise in the town and I recognised him. I walked up to him and spoke of things I knew he was interested in and offered to show him the magic sites of the town,” The thin, dirty man said proudly, clearly thinking he was genius for thinking of such a plan. “Once we were alone I got him”. He finished off with a sadistic grin, his tongue sticking out of his mouth like a snake.

“Very good Crouch,” the body Corvus was in said softly. Crouch all but preened under the approval of his master. “Who is he?”

“Lucas Kjellberg, my Lord. He’s the only son of Hugo and Alice Kjellberg who both died years ago meaning he’s head of the Kjellberg family. Very influential family in Sweden my Lord strongly on the light side and vocal in their distaste of you,” Crouch finished with a sneer turning and spitting on the body. “I wonder what a wizard like him was doing in Little Whinging”. Corvus mentally gasped, he couldn’t believe it, he knew the man in front of him. It was his friends’ father.

“Well Wormtail,” Corvus’s voice said with a faint undertone of amusement. “Lucky for you we now have a new body to sacrifice”. Movement to the left caught Corvus’ attention and he with a jolt he saw that there was a fourth person in the room. The man was short and pudgy, with hair growing at different angles. He greatly resembled a huge rat Corvus thought with disgust. “Crouch has saved your life”

“Th-thank-you M-y Lord. Thank-you,” Wormtail snivelled bowing his head. The voice started to laugh softly, the sound cruel and stayed in Corvus’ head even as darkness overtook him and he saw no more.

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The next morning after breakfast, Corvus was walking hand in hand with Josephina and Edvin by his side as they made their way to the potion’s classroom. They walked in and Josephina and Corvus sat down behind their desks with Edvin and Chris sitting behind them with Conrad sitting to the side with another friend. Corvus saw Hemmings walk in and made eye contact with him before quickly looking away and landing on another boy. Corvus felt his heart skyrocket, his hands started to feel clammy as he took in the boy. It was just a dream, he thought to himself, though he was unable to tear his eyes away.

Josephina noticed Corvus’s staring and turned to see what had him so captivated. She sighed sadly before turning back to Corvus and whispered, “Did you hear what happened to Felix’s dad?”. Corvus froze and flicked his eyes onto her blue ones in disbelief. He felt himself go stiff and willed himself to relax and shake his head. “Lissa told me just before that his family have this clock that shows how someone in their family is doing and apparently on the Felix’s fathers name it says, ‘mortal danger’”. Lissa Dragomir was his girlfriend. “So Felix’s mother obviously panicked seeing that and tried to get in contact with his father but no response. He was travelling in England and while he was somewhere in Yorkshire,” Corvus sucked in a sharp breath, “something seems to have happened to him. Tracking spells are coming up short so it looks as though he’s either decided to run away which he wouldn’t do or hes-“

“Been kidnapped,” finished Corvus weakly staring off into space, worry starting to slowly creep in. Little Whinging was in Yorkshire wasn’t it?

“Well I was going to say killed but yeah or kidnapped I suppose,” Josephina said casually. “The issue is that Felix’s father is the heir to the Kjellberg family and if his father really is dead then he becomes the heir. Can you imagine Felix overseeing a family vote? Or doing anything remotely responsible? The kid can’t even remember his wand for classes!” Josephina sneered, staring at Corvus expectantly for a response.

Corvus forced himself to laugh and muttered, “That is an issue isn’t it”. He turned around and looked at Felix again, his face pale with red eyes as if he had been crying. Had he really seen what happened to Felix’s dad last night in his sleep? He had woken up this morning remembering that part of his dream but dismissing it as a wild imagination _._ He was in someone’s body when he was in the vision, did that mean his mind was linked to that person? Or was he a seer, seeing the future? No, Corvus thought, he was clearly seeing the present, so he wasn’t a seer.  It just didn’t make sense at all. _Why_ did he dream it happening or better yet _how._

Josephina nudged him out of his thoughts. “Are you ok? You look as bad as Felix over there,” she asked, concern lacing her voice, her face in a slight frown as she took in his pale one.

Corvus nodded and tried to flash her a tight smile that looked more like a grimace, “Yeah”. He looked down at his potion book on the desk in front of him and thought it was about time he studied dreams and mental links.

\---------------------------------------

 

Corvus while appearing interested in what the others were saying was only half paying attention as his mind was too absorbed in his dreams and researching them. He ate as quickly as he could at dinner without looking messy and too eager to leave and when he deemed it acceptable he excused himself and headed to the library.

The library at Durmstrang, while not the biggest Corvus had ever seen, certainly held the biggest variety of dark magic. He walked over to the section on dreams and seers and skimmed the shelves looking for where to start. Grabbing a few that sounded right, he walked to a hidden desk right at the back of the library, threw up a quick notice me not charm and got to reading.

Hours later Corvus threw down a book and it hit with a thud on the desk. He leant back in his chair and sighed, pushing his hair out of his face in frustration. He had been in the library for about an 3 hours now and nothing he had read sounded like the answer. They all involved both parties to have agreed and done a ceremony to transfer pictures and sounds which he certainly hadn’t. However, the only thing he had ruled out was that he was seeing predictions.

Getting up and returning the many books he had been pursuing, he decided to look at more books on the dark arts rather than divination. Grabbing a couple that sounded the best, he returned to his hidden desk. Rolling the sleeves up his arms a little higher and undoing the top button to get more comfortable and feeling a lot less enthusiastic than when he first came, he started reading.

The first book was titled _Beyond the usual dark arts_ by Christina Folter. Opening and reading it, Corvus came across a _lot_ of interesting things that would have kept him enthralled if it weren’t for the fact that it didn’t help with his dream situation. Skipping ahead to chapter nine labelled ‘The cause of the fall of the Dark Lord’, Corvus stopped, interested and read.

‘The Dark Lord otherwise known as Lord Voldemort rose to power very quickly during the 1970’s and remained uncontested for 11 years until one Halloween night were the demise occurred. This here dear readers is why it is included in the book of unusual dark magic, you see because no one knows what happened to both the Dark Lord or the baby within the house he attacked, otherwise known as the missing saviour some, Harry Potter. Harry Potters parents were both killed with the killing curse and it makes you wonder what curse the Dark Lord had thrown at the Potter child to cause them to both disappear without a sign except for the destruction of the room they were in.

Experts travelled to the house and attempted to recreate what happened and they sensed extremely dark magic that according to them ‘was as repulsive as it was enthralling’.

Corvus stopped reading thinking over what he just read. His parents had told him pretty much the same and that one day the Dark Lord would return, and they would be standing with him. Corvus was eager for that day to meet the infamous Lord Voldemort and see if husbands powers were as great as they all claimed. Yet, even though he was a Dark Lord supporter already, he couldn’t help but be interested in the baby that was the apparent cause of the destruction of such a powerful wizard. Surely the baby couldn’t do anything, so what had happened that night? Both bodies completely gone with no evidence of blood or anything.

Corvus looked thoughtful before sighing and deciding it was enough research for today. His head hurt, and he was hungry again. Glancing at his watch he saw it was almost curfew of 10:00. Putting the rest of the books back and leaving the library he made his way to the dormitory.

After having a shower and getting in bed, he closed his eyes, not releasing how exhausted he was from all the socialising from the day and fell asleep instantly.

The pictures started off as just a bunch of colours constantly moving, until it got more solidified eventually showing the same room Corvus had seen the night before but this time he could see more. The room was once a handsome room that much was obvious with quality, dated furniture but it was dirty and had a feel and look of neglect to it. In the centre of the room held a solid table and chairs seating two people. Corvus watched intently trying to ensure he remembered as much as he could to research it when he woke up. This was first time he knew what he was seeing was real and not his imagination.

“My Lord everything is ready. We can proceed when you wish,” said Crouch, his voice shaking with excitement and his tongue coming out like a snake every so often. Corvus desperately wanted to see what his host looked like every time he heard the words ‘My Lord’. He had an idea who it might be but almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it because how would _he_ have a connection with _him._   

“I am more than ready. Wormtail grab the sacrifice and bring him forward. Crouch come and grab me”. The voice conveyed none of the excited anticipation that Corvus could feel from within.

Wormtail jumped up when commanded so quickly he almost knocked over his chair and walked over to the side of the room that Corvus couldn’t see. The other man, Crouch, walked closer to Corvus and bent down to pick him up. He turned and Corvus for the first time saw a big black cauldron to the side of the room and with a flick of Crouchs wand, fire started underneath. Crouch turned to look at Wormtail allowing Corvus to see the him levitating a stunned man in front of him, who Corvus knew to be Felix’s father. Feeling sad for his friend that he couldn’t do anything to help his father, he tried to look away but found he couldn’t.  

“The sacrifice is first,” Crouch snapped at Wormtail.

“Yes, I do remember!” Wormtail replied angrily, his voice shaking slightly. He was about to wave his wand at the sacrifice when a cold voice stopped him.

“Wake him up. I want him to know the honour of his death,” the voice from Corvus said, none of the amusement within expressed in the voice.

“Ye-yes My Lord of course,” Wormtail stuttered and waved the wand causing the Felix’s father on the ground to gasp. He rolled over slowly, apparently in a lot of pain making Corvus wonder just what else they had done to him. Getting up quicker as if remembering what had happened, he faced the other men in the room, his eyes going from Wormtail to Crouch before looking at the thing that was Corvus. The man, already deathly pale somehow went even paler and dropped to his knees.

“Please, please, I knew you had not really been destroyed! My family is on your side My Lord! Let me return and tell them of your survival!” the man pleaded, lying through his teeth, eyes wide and terrified, knowing he had no way out without a wand.

The man holding Corvus was laughing lightly, finding the begging amusing.

“You were correct, Lord Voldemort was not destroyed however as you can see my body was. Would you like to assist your Lord in getting one back? Lord Voldemort does not forget those that serve him well,” the cold voice said, the amusement rising in him steadily. Corvus was in disbelief at hearing his theory confirmed. He was in Lord Voldemorts mind! But how was this possible? Quickly compartmentalising this new information he focused back on what was happening.

“Yes, please My Lord, I want to assist you in any way I can. I can go and grab anything you want from almost anywhere. I have access to many levels within the British ministry,” the man begged, still kneeling on the hard ground.

“I have a task for you already in mind specific for you,” Voldemort said softly, staring directly into the mans eyes.

The man on the floor looked stricken at that and whispered, “Ye-yes My Lord, what is my task?”

“Wormtail,” Voldemort said and instantly Wormtail threw a bolt of green light at the man before he could turn to look. The man fell to the ground with a definite thud. Corvus was shocked; that was the first time he had ever seen death. It wasn’t what he imagined, he didn’t feel anything for the man at all only pity for Felix and instead marvelled at how efficient the killing curse was. “That is your task,” Voldemort finished his cold voice cruel with amusement as he spoke to the dead body.

“Grab the body and put it in the cauldron quickly,” Crouch hissed to Wormtail. Corvus saw Wormtail levitate the body in the cauldron, a look of disgust on his face. The body dropped and disappeared within the thick black liquid that was in the caldron. Wormtail then pointed to something and it lifted in the air revealing it to be a human bone before that too disappeared in the cauldron.

Crouch moved closer to the cauldron and dropped Voldemort and by extension Corvus within. Abruptly it was pitch black and Corvus couldn’t see and could barely hear a thing. He couldn’t technically feel the hot liquid or anything else, but he could feel Voldemorts emotions and knew he was in agony. He could barely hear Crouch chanting something from above.

He wasn’t sure how long they were in the cauldron for before suddenly Corvus sensed the body he was in changing. Limbs began to form, and they rose out of the cauldron slowly. He could still only see darkness but that was now because Voldemort had his eyes closed, who was taking in his new body and feeling it. He could sense Voldemorts feel of power and accomplishment at finally after 14 long years he had a body of his own back.

He heard what sounded like Crouch laughing manically and Voldemort smiled thinly in response. Voldemort then opened his eyes, the light blinding for a second before they adjusted, his eyesight impeccable compared to before. His eyes landed on Crouch first who was closest and already on his knees, his back bent low and eyes aimed on Voldemort, tears shining. When their eyes made contact however, Crouch lowered them submissively which made Voldemorts sense of power rise. He turned his eyes to Wormtail behind Crouch who looked deathly pale and was shaking as he stared at the new form of his master, apparently too scared to kneel. Voldemort sneered slightly in disgust, “My wand Wormtail.”

Womtail reached within his robe and pulled the long white wand out before shuffling closer to Voldemort who had his held out in front of him in expectation. Once he handed the wand over, Wormtail retreated as quick as he could and fell to the ground beside Crouch. Voldemort looked down at the wand in his hand as sparks flew out of it at being returned to its master after so long and laughed in exhilaration.

Corvus woke, covered in sweat and sat up in his bed, his heat pounding wildly.

He had just witnessed the return of Lord Voldemort.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sigh of shame* because i'm an idiot, I only just realised a slight plot hole after finishing this chapter and have gone back to chapter one and edited it. To save you re-reading, the only difference is Corvus wasn't surprised that he was Harry Potter - he knew all along. Please be patient with little holes like that as writing a time travel fic is pretty confusing sometimes lol 
> 
> I literally just cant stop typing so i'm sorry the chapter is so long and I will try to make them shorter from now on (unless you prefer longer chapters and if so just let me know!). This whole series is going to be soooo long. As I write, more and more ideas hit me.  
> Also when I read fanfics I really love when the authors add a lot of description and detail and write what a character is wearing or how they are saying something so i'm trying to do that but if its too much just let me know :D
> 
> WARNING: Right at the end there are parts of the speech that is canon (thanks Rowling for letting me use)
> 
> DISCLAIMER: None of this is mine, just the original characters and plot. All belong to JK Rowling.
> 
> ...Anyways, I hope you enjoy chapter three!

The smell of breakfast hit Corvus as he walked through the entrance to the grand hall. Plates full of eggs cooked all ways, variety of meats, toast, pastries, pancakes, and more as well as drinks of all types lined the four tables. There was no official seating arrangement except for the first and last day of semesters, however majority of the students still sat amongst their grade. Spotting Draco siting down alone leant over a book, Corvus made his way over to him glancing around the hall as he went, the quiet chatter gliding over him.

The hall was relatively empty, a lot of those awake were seventh years, their faces blank as they sipped on their coffee, trying to muster up the strength for the day. It felt like a normal day; the atmosphere was light, the chatter quiet, no tense faces. But then again, Durmstrang was known for favouring the dark arts, so many students would be in support of the Dark Lord most likely. It would be interesting to see which of his fellow students and their families would support the Dark Lord. Corvus had been told from a young age that on the Dark Lords return their family would stand beside him.

Still, it was surreal that such a massive thing could happen, and no one had a clue, everyone carrying about their day normally so far. But that would be exactly what the Dark Lord would want wouldn’t it? The element of surprise thought Corvus as he reached Draco and sat down elegantly across from him pouring himself a tea, “Morning”.

Draco glanced up from his book at his arrival, his blonde hair neat, not a single piece array and uniform showing zero creases. Draco took in Corvus’ face for a second while he watched him sip his drink. “Good morning, don’t you look like shit today,” he remarked dryly.

Corvus, who had closed his eyes briefly as he savoured the taste of the hot tea, opened them to Draco and saw concern and curiosity in grey his eyes. Corvus nodded placing his cup down on the table, he knew he didn’t look the best this morning. He had looked in the mirror before coming down and noticed the light black shadows under his eyes. “I didn’t sleep very well last night,” he admitted. His mind replayed what he saw all night, questions racing as he tried to understand it all. He had eventually just gotten out of bed and tried to find anything that resembled the ritual they did to create the body. He wasn’t expecting to find anything within his collection of books in his room, but it made him feel better and calmed his mind to research. But now he must carry the consequences of staying up all night reading in the form of a headache and bags under the eyes.

Draco tilted his head. “Are your dreams starting up again?” he asked quietly. Ever since Corvus was younger he had always had vivid dreams. The dreams always ending with the sound a lady screaming and a green light, Corvus now knowing it to be the killing curse, hitting him in the face. It used to frighten him and when he was very little he would sleep in Draco’s bed with him. He hadn’t had a dream like that in years.

“Yeah they have,” Corvus said, thinking it was easier to tell Draco that. There was no way he could tell him or anyone for that matter the truth. There would be too many questions about how Corvus was even able to see any of.

“Maybe go and see Madame Pelayo and ask for a dreamless sleep potion. I’m sure she’ll give you one if you ask nicely,” Draco said a slight smile on his face

“Yeah I might,” Corvus said, knowing damn well he wasn’t doing that. He needed to see more.

“You might want to ask for a pick-me up potion as well to make sure you’re awake and ready in Dark Arts this morning,” Draco said, grabbing a piece of toast as Corvus gave him a questioning look. Draco continued, “Geoff told me that the new DA teacher is pretty hectic. According to Geoff he threw the petrificus totalus at someone who was talking during class and wouldn’t undo it until the end of the class. Wonder what he would do if you fell asleep” Geoff Saltzer was in the grade above them.

“I’d like to see him try,” Corvus scoffed, but he still looked up to the front of the hall where the teachers table was to have a look for the new teacher. Yesterday he was so distracted he didn’t even have a chance to see the teachers. Since it was breakfast and teachers could summon food to their rooms, not all were present. Scanning from left to right Corvus could see Professor Sayville the potions teacher, Professor Falkov, transfiguration, and Professor Caverly who taught herbology. More than half of the professors were missing including the apparently infamous new Darks Arts professor. Corvus moved his eyes until it rested on the big chair in the centre of the teachers table. Headmaster Karkaroff’s spot was empty. Corvus hadn’t given it much thought but last night at the feast it had been Professor Falkov that had done the welcome speech and said one short sentence just saying that Karkaroff was detained.

“How long do you think Karkaroff will be ‘detained for’?” Corvus asked Draco as he turned to look at him.

Draco who had gone back to reading his book, shrugged and swallowed his piece of toast, “Who knows. Don’t really care either, he’s weird”.

“I wonder what he’s up to,” Corvus turned thoughtful and wondered for a wild moment if it had anything to do with the Dark Lords return but dismissed the idea instantly. How would he have known.  

Draco snorted, “Probably gambled with goblins again and lost and now he can’t pay up. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s had to make a runner”. Corvus laughed and finished his tea dropping the subject.

By now it was almost 7:30 and more people started to slowly mill in, some with fresh faces and others who were clearly not morning people, resembling Corvus. The noise started to get louder, the sound of everyone talking and filling their plates washed over Corvus. Draco’s closest friends, Patrick Morson and Ryan Rasler spotted them and made their way over, sitting beside Draco. Patrick Morson was entirely more brawn than brain that Corvus wouldn’t be surprised if in a fight he just threw his wand away and used muggle methods of hurting someone. Ryan Rasler on the other hand was average build with curly red hair. Corvus got along with both well and proceeded to have a small conversation.

A whooshing up above signalled the arrival of the many owls delivering letters and news. Corvus looked up eager, completely missing what Ryan had been saying. He wasn’t expecting anything to be in about the Dark Lord but Corvus still needed to glance through. An owl swooped down and dropped the paper in front of Draco, who was busy talking and hardly noticed it. Since Draco had paid the yearly fee upfront the owl flew off straight away.

Corvus reached for it and skimmed the whole thing quickly, noting there was nothing new, only a section at the bottom of a page saying ‘Have you seen this wizard’ with a picture of Felix kjellbergs that Corvus quickly skipped through. Eventually Edvin, Chris and Conrad had come in and were sitting around scoffing down breakfast quickly. Josephina had walked in shortly after and waved at Corvus smiling brightly before sitting down with her friends. She wasn’t needy which was fantastic; she and Corvus both had an understanding that they needed their own space and didn’t sit together constantly, only having a couple of classes that they sat together in.

Once breakfast was done all the students in fourth year walked to the DA room as it was one of their core subjects. Walking to his spot on the far left of the room Corvus sat down and dumped his books on the table. Edvin sat in the spot next to him and Chris and Conrad sat in front. Draco sat more in the middle with his friends and Josephina at the back with hers. As soon as Chris and Conrad had sat down Chris leant back on his chair, so it was balanced on the two back legs and Conrad angled it to be facing them and they started to talk to Corvus and Edvin.

“What do you think the new teacher will be like?” Conrad asked, glancing between the three other boys.

“As long as he teaches us some wicked curses I’m sure I’ll like him,” replied Chris sounding excited at the prospect.

“What’s his name?” Corvus asked curiously, realising he hadn’t heard it yet.  

“Professor Moreau, he’s French by the sounds of it,” Edvin remarked.

“I’ve heard he’s strict,” Chris said thoughtfully, wand behind his ear, as he wobbled on his chair a bit before righting himself.

“Yeah that’s what Draco told me as well,” Corvus said grabbing his wand out of robe his and twirling it in his hand, “apparently he threw a curse at someone for talking”.

“I hope we see him do that to someone,” Edvin said as he placed the dark arts book in front of him and had opened his note pad and got his quill and ink ready to take notes.

“Fingers crossed it’s Hemmings,” Conrad said looking at something behind Corvus, most likely Hemmings himself.

Chris laughed, “We can only hope,” He turned to Edvin, “you know you are about the only one in the class with their books organised and opened”.

“I’m sorry that I like to be prepared and ready to take notes. You won’t be borrowing mine just so you know,” Edvin replied waspishly, straightening said books.

“Sine when have I ever asked for your notes?” Chris asked laughing, eyebrow raised in question.

Edvin smirked, “Since when have you ever needed to get your grades up to keep your trust fund?”. Corvus and Conrad both laughed.

“Oh yeah…” Chris said chuckling weakly, looking sheepish. He pushed his chair so it fell back onto all four legs and slowly grabbed his books out.

“Tough luck mate,” Conrad said cheerfully patting him on the back.

“Chris, don’t worry, I have it on good authority that nerdy is the new sexy” Corvus said as he smirked at Chris, twirling his wand through his fingers. Corvus looked up as he heard the door close, and the chatter cease as everyone watched Professor Monreau walk in heading towards his desk at the front of the room without glancing at the students. Inspecting the man, Corvus saw that he was of darker complexion and was average height and build wearing a plain black teaching robe. Professor Monreau’s bald head was down as he placed his books on the desk, before he finally lifted his head and surveyed the room his eyes narrowed as if disliking what he saw already. Corvus heard some people gasp as they saw Monreau’s face finally. Across the left side of his face from forehead to chin was deep bright pink scars standing out viciously against his darker skin that looked as though they had been there for years. Corvus narrowed his eyes slightly as his eyes took in the scars, eager to know what had happened. Obviously extremely dark magic to stop the marks from being healed. Edvin turned to face him with his eyebrows raised, muttering a quiet “damn” before turning back.

“Good morning class, I am Professor Monreau, your new dark arts teacher,” he said somewhat quietly, but the absolute silence in the room allowed his voice to be heard by those in the back. His voice was hard and firm, carrying a French accent. “Even though I may be new to this school, I am not new to teaching nor to the Dark Arts. I have been dealing with the Dark Arts for a long time both within the classroom and out. I will not be tolerating disobedience from anyone, I hope that is understood. Even though this is a classroom where I will merely pass or fail you based on your performance, out there in the real world,” he thrust his finger in the air and pointed out the door, “that will not be the case. Out there it is either hunt or be hunted – kill or be killed. Take this class seriously and it may one day save your life allowing you to leave with a couple of scars,” at that he pointed his hand to his face where his scars were, his face void of emotion.

Corvus sat completely still, taking in every word Monreau said with great interest. It was clear Monreau had been in some fights, not even from the scars but the way he spoke and the body language he was giving off. Corvus felt an increase in his excitement to see where this subject would go this year with Monreau. Their last DA teacher was competent, but she relied too much on textbooks and theory for his liking. It was all well and good reading about curses and studying the exact movement to cast the curse, but Corvus learnt long ago from his own experience that it was feeling and emotion that really judged a casts power and casting the curses showed you that.

Deep in thought and concentration on Professor Monreau as he explained what they would be doing for the lesson, Corvus didn’t see Chris grab his wand from behind his ear and rest his elbows on the desk with his wand hidden aimed at Corvus’ leg. Corvus felt it coming just as the stinging hex hit his upper thigh, “fuck!” Corvus said loudly rubbing his thigh. 

Everyone turned to him at the interruption, he heard Josephina giggle. Straightening up, Corvus looked at Professor Monreau who’s eyes were narrowed onto him. “I mean fuck yeah the blasting curse. Can’t wait,” Corvus said deadpanned and raising his fist in the air in a cheer. He had managed to keep a straight face until he heard the class sniggering. Glancing around the room he saw Chris had his face down in his arms on the table and his whole body was shaking from laughter. Draco looked torn between resignation and finding the situation funny, Josephina was staring at him shaking her head slightly, grinning. Corvus grinned back at her and turned back to Monreau just in time to see him throw a spell at him. Already on alert from Chris’s unexpected attack, Corvus easily ducked avoiding the spell as it soared past him and hit the desk behind causing Lissa sitting at it to squeal. Sitting back up straight, Corvus laughed loudly and fixed his hair, moving the soft waves to the side. “Really sir? I would have thought someone with as much experience with the Dark Arts as you claim to, you could at least hit your target”.

Everyone in the room gasped, a couple of bold ones snorted, amongst those being Chris, Conrad and Edvin who weren’t surprised in the slightest. Their breath held, everyone’s eyes were darting between both Corvus and Monreau in anticipation eager to see what would happen next, no doubt thinking of the many rows Corvus had gotten in with the teachers before.

Professor Monreau walked forward slowly, each step controlled. Reaching Corvus’ desk, he stared his nose down at him and said softly, the French thicker, “And what is your name?”.

Corvus who showed no fear and was sitting straight, stared straight back at him, his bright green eyes meeting black defiantly and said proudly, “Corvus Malfoy sir. A pleasure”. 

Monreau’s eyes flashed too quick for Corvus to decipher the emotion and his lips twisted in disgust before his face cleared. “Ahh,” he said softly turning and walking back to the front of the class, “a Malfoy. Funny how one word can explain so much”.

Corvus who had been treating the whole situation with mirth stiffened, his hands turning to fists on his desk and head tilted slightly, “I don’t think I quite understand. Could you elaborate?”.

Professor Monreau turned back to face Corvus as he reached his desk, “Well it explains your superior attitude and arrogance of course. A family trait that you are evidently not exempt from,”.

Draco who had been growing more and more livid at every word Monreau uttered spat, venom lining the words, “You dare insult my family? Our father will be hearing about this”.

Monreau merely glanced at Draco and sneered, clearly not upset by his words, surprised that they were brothers. Corvus tried to calm himself down, knowing he would be the only one dealing with consequences should he curse Monreau. His eyes dangerously onto Monreau, Corvus said breezily as if he wasn’t bothered, “Sir jealously isn’t very becoming on you”.

Corvus saw anger flash across Monreau’s face, “If you’re so sure of yourself young Malfoy, come up here and show us how good of a dueller you are. If you think you are more superior than me, I invite you to prove it”.

Corvus froze unable to believe Monreau offered for a duel. Corvus _was_ confident in his abilities and power but he was also realistic and while he may act like he knew everything, he knew he certainly did not. He knew he didn’t stand a chance in winning being only fourteen, but he couldn't say no and look like a coward so steeling himself, he got up slowly from his chair and took his outer robe off, so he was left in his black slacks and white buttoned up shirt. Some of the students catcalled him as he was undoing his top button and cuffs and rolled the sleeves up for better wand movement.

“Pay attention class, this will be a good demonstration to those that think to act out and think they are infallible like our friend Malfoy here,” Professor Monreau said tauntingly, eyes on Corvus as he reached him and stood opposite of him.

Corvus could feel anger bubble up in chest but he pushed it away instead opting for a bored look. He realised that his blasé, arrogant attitude is what pissed Monreau off more than his anger did, so blasé and arrogant is what he would be. “So how are we doing this _sir_ ,” Corvus drawled, emphasizing the word sir.

“Just a simple duel, with no seconds,” Monreau said, using his wand to move his desk up against the side wall leaving a huge space, “First person to either step out of the circle,” He then drew a floating gold decent sized circle with his wand around them, “go unconscious or surrender loses, making the other the winner”. Monreau turned to face Corvus, also rolling his sleeves up and getting more comfortable before saying, “we will bow and then on the count of three we may begin. Only up to grade B spells allowed”.

Corvus nodded, grade B spells included those that could affect someone but not leave damage, for example the petrificus totalus or levicorpus. Corvus and Monreau both bowed to each other, neither taking their eyes off the other before they were righting themselves and Monreau said loudly, “one, two…three”.

The second Monreau said three, he flicked his wand at Corvus and threw a sharp stupefy. Throwing up a quick silent shield, Corvus then threw a leg-locker curse which Monreau deflected with ease. Monreau grinned at Corvus quickly before going into the offensive and throwing spell after spell at him. Corvus barely managed to keep his shield charm up for the attack, and one spell got threw and without thinking he dived out of the way and landed in a crouch on the ground, hitting his knee hard only centimetres from touching the line.

Corvus could just hear the class gasping and cheering, but he focused on his opponent. He’s controlling this whole duel, thought Corvus, I need to get him unbalanced. The second he thought the word unbalanced, he got an idea and diving out of the way of another quick spell, he rolled and without a second delay pointed his wand at the ground under Monreau and created a layer of ice. Monreau looked down in surprise as he stumbled slightly, but before he could do anything Corvus had stood up straight and threw the pushing charm at him trying to get him to touch the circle and fall out. Corvus proceeded to quick fire to either hit or be a distraction, making him unable to melt the ice. Monreau flailed for a second, arms trying to regain balance, still somehow deflecting the spells. He threw a spell at Corvus and then quickly melted the ice with his wand and angled his arm to aim his wand behind him and conjured a small wall to stop him from falling.

Corvus glowered feeling as though that was cheating and, in his distraction, didn’t see Monreau throw an array of spells with one hitting him in the leg, sending him flying back out of the circle. Corvus felt a strong wave of disappointment run through him as he lay still on his back staring up at the ceiling unwilling to get up straight away. He knew he would lose but a small part of him hoped he could win. He could hear the class moaning and jeering at him for losing as Monreau walked over and stood beside him holding out his hand to help Corvus up. Rather than accepting it, Corvus gracefully stood up by himself and dusted himself down.

Monreau dropped his hand. “You did very good. You should feel proud of yourself for lasting as long as you did. I wasn’t going easy,” he said, his voice serious, a contemplating look in his eyes as he stared into Corvus’ bright green ones.

Corvus sneered feeling patronised, “I am glad you beat me sir. Had you lost to a 14-year-old I would have been concerned and questioned your employment. But none the less thank you”.

“Go back to your seat now,” he said before turning to the class, “Now I believe we have wasted enough time…the blasting curse!”.

Corvus walked back to his chair and at down, his pride wounded. Edvin stared at him, “You did amazing Corvus!” Corvus didn’t reply, “Come on…you can’t have actually thought you would beat him, did you? The bloke is like 30 years older than you, he clearly knows spells and he’s been in real duels. No offence mate but we all thought you would be knocked out instantly, no matter how good you are”.

Corvus, putting his robe back on and focusing on Monreau going over the blasting curse, muttered a quiet, sarcastic “thanks”.

\---------------------------------------

  

The rest of the day was normal, though abandoning hope of hearing anything, Corvus had kept his ear opened for some whisper of something but he heard nothing making him even more eager to sleep. Tales of his duel with Monreau has spread around the school quickly, the details being stretched. The workload had increased from last year already causing a lot of moaning and requiring many to stay in the common room to complete it. Corvus sat amongst Edin, Conrad and Chris tapping his foot eager to go to bed.

Satisfied with the amount of work he had completed for the night, Corvus shut his book and packed his quill and parchment up. He got up and stretched, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. They all nodded and said their goodbyes. Corvus raced up the stairs and entered his room, having the quickest shower before getting in bed and closing his eyes. After 5 minutes of sitting still and breathing deeply, he realised he was too riled up to get to sleep. Trying to relax his mind and not think about the Dark Lord he eventually succeeded, his body exhausted from both the lack of sleep the night before and the duel today and drifted off.

Vibrations radiated through the entire pillow, waking Corvus with a jolt, signalling that it was 7:30. Sunlight drifted through his closed curtains from the window as he rolled over flat onto his back and cursed. He hadn’t seen anything last night, it was as if he had just closed his eyes and his alarm went off. Feeling disappointed, he rubbed his eyes hard, threw his blanket off himself and padded over to the bathroom to get ready for the day, nodding at Edvin as he passed also just getting up.

Corvus spent the rest of the morning in a foul mood; it was as if nothing was going right for him. First was the lack of vision, then as he was walking into the grand hall with Edvin, starving, he realised he had forgotten his essay on the binding rituals he had completed over the break for advanced defence and dark arts. Then as he had raced back to the grand hall with the essay, stomach rumbling painfully at the smell of food, he had felt someone grab his arm. Turning around he had snapped “what?” before seeing who it was straight into Josephina’s face causing her to reply coldly, “don’t worry” and walk off no longer talking to him for the day. Sighing Corvus walked over to his friends, sat down and had scoffed his food down before having to rush to advanced DDA. His friends easily being able to tell Corvus was in a bad mood, spoke amongst themselves not perturbed at his silence.

About halfway through the class, Corvus could feel a headache coming along. Rubbing his forehead as he wrote down notes, the pain suddenly increased, and it felt as though a flame was touching his scar. Putting both hands onto his forehead now to try to squeeze the pain away, he squeezed his eyes shut and instead of seeing darkness, he saw a long table occupied by people.

“You alright?” he heard Edvin ask from beside him. Removing his hands from his face and opening his eyes, he turned and saw Edvin staring at him in obvious worry.

“Mr Malfoy, Mr Laine, no talking please,” Professor Merrill said from the front.

“Excuse me professor, I’m really not feeling too good. I think I’ll go to the hospital wing,” Corvus said fighting the urge to throw up from the pain.

Professor Merrill turned and looked at him harder this time, taking in his pale complexion and sweat. “You’re as pale as a ghost! Yes of course go to the hospital wing. Maybe Mr Laine should accompany you to make sure you’re okay?”

“No, its fine professor, I’ll be okay,” Corvus said wiping some seat from his brow and attempting to smile but unable to. Grabbing his things and leaving the room as quickly as he could he headed to his dormitory, but the pain spiked once again and walking past an empty classroom, Corvus made the decision to go in. Sitting at the closest chair to him, he threw his bag to the ground, put his hands to his face and closed his eyes, the pain leaving him instantly.

They were in the same room as the resurrection happened, however it was cleaner and the only furniture in the room was the long table and chairs. He was seated at the head of the long table, his eyes slowly drinking in each person, as they bowed to him and took their seat, their fear almost tangible. Most of the seats were taken by now, some closest to the Dark Lord still empty. No one at the table was looking in their direction, heads bent low, eyes diverted to the other side of the room where there was safety. Corvus felt a sliver of satisfaction come through the bond from Voldemort at the fear he felt from his followers.

Hearing a hiss directly at his ear, Corvus realised Voldemort’s snake was resting along his shoulders, her split tongue no doubt enjoying the taste of the fear in the air like her master. Voldemort lifted a single pale finger, the nail long and stroked the snakes head slowly in a repetitive motion without looking away from those at the table. Corvus noticed both Wormtail and Crouch seated about halfway down the table, the former cowering and the latter glaring at the newcomers, his tongue jumping in and out. 

The sound of the arrival of more people caught Voldemort’s attention as he moved his eyes up from those sitting to the open double door on the other side of the room in front of him. Corvus felt his heart race faster in his own body far from the room as he saw the unmistakable long blonde hair of both his mother and father.

“Ah. Lucius…Narcissa…my old friends. I was beginning to wonder whether you were coming,” Voldemort said softly, a hint of danger detected in his voice, his red eyes piercing them both in their spot. Lucius froze, his eyes automatically locking onto Voldemort’s bright red before he instantly averted them as if he had been stung. Narcissa stood still behind him not moving a muscle, her blue eyes on the ground.

Lucius slowly, cautiously made his way closer to Voldemort, his feet barely looking as though they wanted to cooperate before he fell to his knees heavily and bowed, his head almost touching the ground. Narcissa followed suit. “Forgive me my Lord. My wife and I were within the company of the Minister at the ministry discussing matters. We left as quick as we could without attracting unwanted attention”. Corvus had never heard his father like that. Lucius was always so proud and arrogant, inheriting the Malfoy trait according to Monreau. However, then in the present of the Dark Lord he sounded meek and pleading. Glancing at his mother, he noticed she had still yet to say a word which Voldemort noticed too apparently. 

“Narcissa, are you not as happy to see me as I am to see you?” Voldemort taunted unblinkingly completely ignoring what Lucius had said, still patting the snake slowly with one finger. Even though the words were coated in derision, Voldemort’s face was inscrutable and no on the room knew what to do. Those sitting around the table were watching the proceedings with a mix of interest and fear, worried they would somehow accidentally gain the Dark Lords interest onto themselves.

Narcissa when addressed, had moved her eyes to his shoulders rather than his piercing eyes. “Of course, my Lord,” she stammered out quietly, her face vacant of emotion. Corvus felt a rush of anger build up inside of Voldemort and knew it was from the lie his mother just gave. 

“What lies Narcissa,” Voldemort whispered, standing up from his chair, the snake gliding from his shoulders to the table causing those sitting close to jerk back suddenly. “Lucius my slippery friend, I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face,” Voldemort said, halting in front of Lucius still kneeling on the ground.

Lucius looked up slightly and looked slightly confused before stuttering, “Yes my Lord. I have remained in a high position at the ministry and the minister himself trusts me and respects me,”

Voldemort pulled his white bone wand out of the inside of his flowy black robe and stared at it in thought before turning his narrowed red eyes back to Lucius, “That is very good…yet you never once tried to come and find me?” he said silkily, fingering his wand. Those at the table were watching rapt, their eyes paling at the sight of the wand. “Might your energies not have been better directed towards aiding and finding your master?”

“My Lord, I was constantly on the alert,” Lucius responded swiftly, the nerves still evident. “Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me”.

“I’m sure you would have Lucius…yet you have disappointed me. I believed you to be one of my most faithful, maybe I was mistake,” Voldemort mused the last part more to himself as he stroked a finger around his lips. Lifting his wand, he pointed it at Lucius. “ _Cruicio_!”

Corvus felt helpless as he watched his father being tortured, shrieking as his body was twisting at unimaginable angles. Voldemort was feeling such a surge of rage and power; the feeling was almost intoxicating to Corvus who could almost block out the screams of his father. After what felt like five minutes but was more like fifteen seconds, Voldemort let up, flicking his wand up and ending the spell.

“I expect more faithful service in the future,” Voldemort whispered turning his back on both Lucius and Narcissa. Lucius lay there gasping for breath, his body twitching still from the aftershock. “Get up and sit at the table,” Voldemort ordered as he himself sat down once more. Waiting for Lucius and Narcissa to sit at the two empty spots close to him, Voldemort looked at the other empty spots. The two to his direct right were empty, as well as a couple down further. “The Lestranges should be sitting here,” Voldemort said quietly. “But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me…when Azkaban is broken open they will be honoured beyond their dreams”. Looking further down the table Voldemort remarked casually, though the anger in his voice was palpable, “One too cowardly to return…he will pay and one, who I believe has left me forever…he will be killed of course”.

Voldemort then turned to the rest of his followers. “Welcome, Death Eaters,” he began quietly. “Thirteen years…thirteen years since we last met. Yet you answer my call as if it were yesterday…we are still unified under the dark mark then! _Or are we_?” Voldemort finished with a hiss, voice still deadly low.

Suddenly, Voldemort sniffed the air, his nostrils widening. “I smell guilt. There is a stench of guilt upon the air”. A shiver ran through the group at the table, as though each member longed for nothing more than to run out of the doors. “I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact, such prompt appearances tonight! And I ask myself…why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?”

No one spoke. No one moved, expect for Lucius, twitching slightly still from the cruciatus.

“And then I answer myself,” whispered Voldemort, eyes moving them all, “they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment…” Voldemort got up and walked around table slowly, eyes unfocused facing forward as he spoke. “And then I ask myself, but how could they believe I would not rise again? They who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power, in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living?” Voldemort stood at the one large window in the room and looked out. Corvus was in disbelief at what he was seeing. This was the longest vision he had ever had. He was particularly interested in the part about the steps Voldemort took to guard against death. It clearly wasn’t anything to do with his body as his clearly got destroyed, though Corvus, mind racing with the possibilities.

“And then I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still-greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort…perhaps they now pay allegiance to another…perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?” Voldemort whispered still, however spitting the last two words out in hatred. Corvus could see a slight reflection in the window of Voldemort and saw his red eyes flash, he could feel his hatred growing the longer he spoke.

At the mention of Dumbledore’s name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their hands, one man even spitting on the table in disgust. Voldemort ignored them and turned away from the window to face them, “It is a disappointment to me…I confess myself disappointed…”

A rough, unstable voice sounded from the table, “Master, I returned to your side more faithful than ever!” Crouch said desperately, a crazed look in his eyes as he almost leant on the table to get closer to Voldemort.

Voldemort gave a thin smile and walked closer to Crouch, “You are perhaps one of my most faithful”. Some at the table threw Crouch a look full of hatred at that, though Crouch didn’t see, staring at Voldemort in admiration.

 “Master, I-I returned to you too!” Wormtail squealed out, his voice both indignant and terrified.

Voldemort turned to look his nose down at Wormtail. “You returned to me, not out of loyalty but out of fear of your old friends,” he hissed, voice glacial. “Yet you helped me return to my body. Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me, and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers,” he finished coolly, watching Wormtail shake, disgust plain in his eyes.

Voldemort turned away from Wormtail and strode around the table more once more, “I am sure you are all wondering what happened that night many years ago…” Corvus was sure his body would have been passed out by now from lack of air. He was so tense he couldn’t breathe. “Harry Potter. You know they have called him my downfall? You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in an attempt to save him – and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen. My curse was deflected by the woman’s foolish sacrifice. Pain beyond pain, nothing could have prepared me for it”.

Voldemort stopped talking for a second to let his words sink into his death eaters. “But now I am back, stronger than even before which I did not think possible. So tell me, since neither Crouch nor Wormtail seem to know…what has become of Harry Potter?” He finished the last part in a hiss, red eyes moving from person to person waiting for someone to speak.  

Lucius spoke up, voice strong, his twitching had stopped by now though his face was still pale and his hair a mess, “My Lord…no one is entirely sure where Harry Potter is. He was never found. The bodies of both Lily and James Potter were found but not his”. Lucius swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing before continuing. Corvus thought he could see Narcissa move her hand under the table to grip his thigh. “But my Lord, Narcissa and I completed the task you left us those many years ago which may be the answer you’re looking for”. What task, Corvus thought to himself with a growing feeling of trepidation.

Voldemort who had been standing by his chair motionless, red eyes fixed on Lucius had grown furious at hearing no one knew where Harry Potter was and then at the mention of the task, he cocked his head to the side in such a human gesture, clear confusion on his face. “What was my task Lucius?” Voldemort asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

Lucius and Narcissa both paled further if that was possible. This was their biggest fear coming to truth…that they had been lied to.

“My Lord. A man came to me the night you went to the Potters and he told me what had happened to you. He would not tell me his name, but he showed me his mark and swore on his magic. H-he said you had been destroyed and you had given me one task to complete until you came back. He was adamant you would retur- “

Voldemort cut Lucius off in a deathly whisper, the temperature of the room lowering, “What was my task Lucius?”

“To raise the baby, he gave me master,” Lucius whispered, leaning back in his chair, terrified, “I was told you wanted me to raise this baby as my own and to tell others he was the orphan of close friends that were killed in France,” Lucius paused and then continued slowly as if frightened of his next words, “He told me the child was to be called Corvus my Lord. I have always suspected him of being Harry Potter”.

Voldemort’s face shuttered when he heard the name Corvus, his eyes widened in disbelief. The rest of the Death Eaters held their breath, all too terrified to make a noise. Voldemort then laughed loudly, the noise reverberating around the room, causing those around the table to jump, even causing Wormtail to fall out of his chair. Voldemort’s face was gleeful as he, in two long strides, was in front of Lucius and grabbing him by his robe, pulling him closer, “Show me!” he demanded, danger in his voice, a glint in his red eyes.

Corvus felt a strong rush of excitement build within Voldemort as he stared into Lucius' eyes delving into the memory.  _Lucius was standing there in front of an opened door, dobby was in front of him facing someone-_

A loud noise that sounded like the door slamming pulled Corvus out of the vision.

“No! no!” he said desperately squeezing his eyes shut to go back. “ _Come on!_ ” he said louder, hitting the table. Corvus opened and closed his eyes several more times and still nothing.

Standing up quickly from his chair, Corvus wobbled on his feet for a moment before he bent over and threw up everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments keep me writing :D


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